08/29/16 - Raleigh, North Carolina

What an incredible week!! We started off strong by going to an outdoor laser tag last Monday. A member owns it up in Wake Forest so we got to play for free! Plus it is usually closed on Mondays, so we got to play alone! It was a great workout. The guns are weighted and are very realistic. You even have to remove the clip to reload it! A great preparation day. That night we had a lot of success too! We finally were able to meet many people that we hadn't seen in a while. The Spirit was strong as we taught the restored gospel to many! On Tuesday morning, Elder Summers and I went to his "First Transfer Training Meeting". It's pretty much a meeting for all of the missionaries in their first transfer. Just like it says haha.. There were about 40 people there and we received a lot of great instruction! The meeting lasted for about 8 hours. A few times throughout the meeting, President called up certain companionships to do a role play in front of the group. He was very hard on all of us! He gave much feedback after each role play and was really very nit picky. It was for our good though! We were picked to go up. Twice! One of which was to teach the Law of Chastity. We weren't even given any notice.. President just said "Alright, I am now going to have someone teach me about the law of Chastity. Elder Shearer and Elder Summers, how about you come and try it?" I was quite nervous to tell the truth, but as we prayed for the Spirit in our hearts, it was there! A few scriptures flooded my mind as we taught with clarity and power. We promised many blessings as we invited President and his wife to get married. After we finished, he just looked at us and said "Beautiful. Beautifully done. That was just perfect." It was such a testimony builder for me that the Spirit really can and will bring all things to our remembrance! I have been studying long and hard to learn the scriptures and I know that if I hadn't have put in the effort, I would have never qualified for those blessings. We came home after the meeting and with only 30 minutes left before dinner, I sat down to finish preparing my district meeting for the next day. I lacked quite a bit of material. I started with a prayer and as I closed in the name of Christ, scriptures, talks, concepts, and stories began again to flood into my mind! They all happened to work together as I put them on paper and somehow was miraculously able to plan a very powerful meeting in the little amount of time I was given. Later that night I learned that the Sister Missionaries had taken out our recent convert, Josefina! They said that she loved it!! She literally wants them to take her out every night. Such a great missionary already! Wednesday we had one of my best district meetings yet. It was on motivation. We discussed our call to feed the sheep of the Lord. By the end of it we were all on our feet repeating the words "This is my day of opportunity! I will not waste it." The Spirit was very strong and I hope we all walked away with a little more fire in us to do the work of the Lord. We went to Hibachi again and I almost died!! I eat way too much when we go there.. Never again!! We went to teach Rony after (Josefina's son of 13 years) and he as well is solid! He had received the Priesthood, passed the Sacrament, is preparing to go the temple on Saturday, and even gave a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday about his conversion story! He is the light of my soul. A member brought dinner to our house and she brought a bunch of bags of groceries! It was the sweetest thing ever! We rode our bikes quite a ways out to our appointment that night, but it was well worth it! We taught the best lesson of the transfer and easily one of the best of my mission. We started by setting solid expectations. We taught the Restoration with simplicity and with power. Brought the Spirit with the First Vision, and explained with urgency the need to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Pedro and Leopoldo told us that they want to be baptized and I felt that they really meant it. They truly have a desire. Pedro's wife is already a member so that helps him have some support. Thursday we found a random man sitting on a rock outside reading his Bible! We went to talk to him and had a great contact. Turns out he is heading back to Mexico in a week, but we left him with a pamphlet and as we walked away, we saw him reading it! We ate dinner that night with another part member family that I love! Their names are Flor and Adolfo. They gave us PAPUSAS!!! My favorite!!! As well as CHEESE-FILLED EMPENADAS!! It was a glorious meal. And to finish it off, she brought out a homemade cheesecake and smashed my face into it! Haha I guess that is a Hispanic tradition for birthdays.. They tell you to take a bite of it and then as you lean in, they get ya! Way too much of it got into my nose... We went on a quick exchange with the zone leaders afterwards. We went tracting and just as we were about to knock a door we felt inspired to knock, a man walked out! We began to talk to him and to introduce ourselves. His name is Carlos! He is very tired of the lack of hope in the world and is really looking to come closer to God. We had a powerful contact with him and got his information to meet with him later. Friday!! Was the best day ever. For those of you who don't know, it was my birthday!! I finally turned 19! We woke up at 12:01 to open my presents and how glorious they were! I got many beautiful ties, a wooden watch, and a very classy fountain pen from my sister!! Thank you so much to everyone that sent me a card or a present!! They were all very much appreciated and very loved!! Oh yeah, and my companion gave me a cactus! Pretty cool. His name is Larry. He doesn't really do much though.. He mostly just sits there. Elder Summers made a breakfast for me and it was so nice! It just so happened that our deep cleaning day fell on my birthday so that took up most of our time, but we went to dinner at the Madrid family's house! They made us mole and then smashed my face into another cake!! Very messy the second time around I must say... To finish off a perfect day, President and Sister James called me to sing to me and to wish me a happy birthday. It was awesome haha! Saturday was as well super busy. Elder Niko was going down to Lumberton for a baptism and wanted to know if I wanted to go with him and make a pit stop in Siler City on the way there. I was super excited about it at first but then got a feeling to pray and ask the Lord. As I knelt down in prayer, I had a real stupor of thought! I can't even explain what it was like! I felt like I should open up my scriptures next and as I did I was reminded to be happy and do what I have been called to do. I found a few scriptures teaching me that no one is exempt from the law of consecration. That includes all time I have! It is truly the Lord's and not my own. While going to Siler might not have been a bad thing, I felt it wasn't the best use of time. So we didn't go. He was a little bummed about it, but he had fun at the baptism in Lumberton. That night we had a ward activity! It was the biggest one of the year. It is called the International Night! We had food from all the different Hispanic countries and we even had many people perform their native dances! It was very neat!! Josefina brought a friend with her too! We are going to start teaching her this week. Very excited! We all danced afterwards and there were some teenage girls taking snapchats with us. It was kind of weird.. Elder Niko told me afterwards that they had asked how old I was! Very interesting.. Well too bad I'm a missionary!! They gotta wait! We got transfer news later that night and found out that we are staying! The sad news though is that they are opening Raleigh 3B again which means we will go back to just our area of 3C. We are losing all of our promising people!! Those new elders are walking into many baptisms. I guess I'm happy for them.. Just sad to be leaving the people we have gotten very close to. But we are very excited for this new transfer and are going to be even more determined than ever to do the work of the Lord! There are such great blessings here in the mission field. Thank you all for reading this email! Sorry they are always so long haha.. Just so many things happening!! I hope you each have a very happy week. :)

Still smelling the cheesecake,
Elder Shearer

08/22/16 - Raleigh, North Carolina

Why hello there all of you beautiful people! I'm back! Many stories this week, I hope to keep them short.. Last Monday we had a multi-zone activity at a place called Defy Gravity, a trampoline park! We had a lot of fun and a great workout! On our way there, I got a strange feeling that Elder Summers was going to get hurt! I tried telling him to be safe, but right at the last moment he panicked on a back flip and landed on his neck!! It was terrible, he's been in pain all week.. I felt so bad, like it was my fault! I probably should have just not said anything.. But anyways, back to the stories! Tuesday morning we had possibly our best lesson of the week. We taught an investigator by the name of Bertha. She has been taught for quite a while by the missionaries and still doesn't quite understand the message. She understand the need for priesthood authority, but believes that the Catholic church has it. We went over to her home and had a lesson about the apostasy using just the Bible. After explaining it to her, she asked "So where did the church of Christ go? What happened to the truth??" We then shared the first vision and testified of its truthfulness. She has her eyes opened at last and it was the greatest feeling helping her get there. Later that night we taught a part member family we have been working with about temples! They are working on the father's divorce, Adolfo, and then going to be married so he can get baptized! And a year later they are planning and going to the temple together! Wednesday we had district meeting about obedience. It was a very powerful one. I opened it up to a discussion and everyone had great insights! We talked about needing to let go of ourselves and then give ourselves to the Lord. It is incredible that I have already seen a difference in this district and in these missionaries since that day! I am serving around so many good missionaries. The rest of our Wednesday was very full of tests. In just that one day we were confronted with quite a bit of anti material. While eating at Chick-fil-a for dinner with a member, a woman approached us trying to "save" us. We simply smiled, bore testimony, invited her to know of our church for herself, and left as soon as possible. The same day we also received some anti CD's in the mail which I quickly found a new home for in the garbage. While tracting later that day, a man opened a door dressed in a KKK outfit! It terrified me!! The whole day there was much opposition and trial! Yet we wore our smiles proudly and went about our labors with joy. We then received a referral from Salt Lake City for a man requesting a Book of Mormon! We contacted him that same night and had a great lesson with him. It was a great testimony builder for me that when we are strong in our trials and continue to brightly beam with the love of our Savior, everything works out for the best. We had another amazing lesson the next day as we again taught an investigator about the apostasy. He wasn't understanding anything the entire lesson until we took a step back and taught about it. And then he got it! Very well! He's going to read and pray to receive an answer. My testimony has really grown this week of the apostasy! I have found that from there comes all of the confusion. If we can just teach the apostasy from the bible and help people come to feel of the need of a restoration, the Spirit can do its work. Tracting later that night, we found 3 new investigators within the space of an hour and a half! Miraculous. We also had a lesson with Jesus, the husband of our recent convert. He finally opened up and shared that he knows this church is true. He even knows the Book of Mormon is true! He just lacks desire. We are working with him on that. We gave service Friday to a less active and helped him pick up a table in Garner. He rented a U-hall van but it only had 2 seats! So I sat in the back; the cargo area. It was scary! Many stickers warning me of my inevitable death. But after being thrown around for a bit, I survived! And we ate lunch! At a Chinese buffet! We got a referral for someone in Mexico later that day from a member, so that was neat. And in the middle of the night, around 11:30, we got a phone call from a potential investigator! Really confused and half-asleep, I answered it! He was very drunk as he tried to get me to pay him $500 dollars so he could help us build our church. It was pretty comical. Saturday we taught an investigator by the name of Eladio that has cancer in his kidneys. He is hanging in there as he waits for his insurance to let him go on Dialysis. But we had a great lesson as we tried to build his faith and his hope in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Following that lesson, I gave my first baptismal interview! It went very well and the candidate is ready for his baptism this Friday! I also got a few birthday packages and I can't wait to open them! We had a neat experience with goal setting too on Saturday. We had planned to find one new investigator for the day and after tracting for quite some time, we hadn't spoken to a single person! We tried driving around looking for other neighborhoods when we felt prompted to go to visit one of our investigators. Turns out, her daughter has been in the back room the whole time and is actually really interested! We had a great lesson with her and were able to find the soul we were looking for. Elder Summers and I are doing great together. We are speaking Spanish every odd hour of the day and we are both growing more and more each time! Oh! On Sunday one of our recent converts, Rony, got the Priesthood! Elder Summers was able to give it to him and it was a very special experience. Rony even passed the sacrament the same day! Josefina, his mom, was beaming the entire time and there was such pride and joy on her face! Very touching to me. This week I have been very humbled. I have really come to a sense of my nothingness and my need for the Lord. I have caught a glimpse of just how little I know and how much room I have for improvement. But I am willing! To change, to grow, to do the Lord's will. I simply hope and pray I can become even more of an instrument in His hands. I have quickly learned that that is all I ever want. And with that, possibly my favorite thing that I learned this week is that today is the day of my opportunity. And for that, I will not waste it. Each day we have no more than today to change. Today is the day to act. To make a difference. I have learned that we must use all opportunities and each day to become the best versions of ourselves we can possibly become. So let's get to work! At least for me, there's a long way to go... I love you all and hope you have the best of weeks!!

Building this church through business deals,
Elder Shearer

08/15/16 - Raleigh, North Carolina

This week has definitely been a fast one! We had a very relaxed preparation day as we worked on cleaning our house, catching up on a little bit of much needed sleep, and doing some shopping. I found a pair of nice loafer shoes for 10 dollars! Expecting to gain some Hispanic trust with those real soon.. I also found two very nice ties for 3 dollars each! Tuesday we were able to teach some great lessons as well as plan for our zone training the following day. It went very well! An Elder from another area really needed a haircut so he came over to our house and I gave him one at like 6 in the morning! We left to our meeting afterwards and it was incredible. Our zone leaders gave an instruction on obedience and related it to burying our weapons of war. They asked us each what our "weapons of war" were and as we thought of them, we wrote them on a large arrow with our signatures beneath. We are going to bury the arrow! Super neat idea. I was privileged to be able to give an instruction as well! I instructed on "Catching the Fire". To start the instruction, I lit a fireball about the size of my fist on fire in a frying pan in the parking lot outside. I expressed the need for us to catch this same kind of fire in our missionary labors. It was a very humbling experience as I could literally feel the Spirit working through me. I could feel the power of the work of the Lord and hopefully was able to share some insights to help the other missionaries with whom I serve. I instructed on sacrifice and related it to the biblical sacrifices that were often made: the sin offerings, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings. They respectively represent the Atonement, sanctification, and fellowship with the Lord. Leviticus 6:12-13 teach us that we need the fire of our altars continually burning. I found it interesting that true fellowship with the Lord comes after and only after true sanctification. We went on exchanges following the meeting and I went with an Elder that is still in his first transfer to his area. We had a GREAT night!! Their area has been struggling a little as they have only been able to teach one lesson a week. And sometimes not even that much.. But we hit the ground running and within the first hour, we got a member referral! We then spent the day tracting and did so for about 3 hours. We had a few interesting door contacts. Upon asking one man if he knew any of his neighbors that could use a spiritual boost, he replied " A spiritual boost? From you? Yeah, I don't think so." He then proceeded to slam the door in our faces. But it was good! I walked away with a smile on my face grateful for the chance to represent this church. We also had another man tell us he wasn't interested unless we could give him money. I told him we could give him Jesus, but he didn't really like that too much and also slammed the door.. After having received much rejection, I had a strong feeling that someone needed to talk to us. However I didn't feel that we were in the right area. I got a prompting to "get in the car and drive." Not knowing the area but full of faith nonetheless, we got in the car and began to drive away. Elder Baker asked me where we were going and I told him I had no idea. As we started driving, an image came into my head of an apartment complex. Unknown to me its location, I prayed with all of my soul that the Lord would direct my paths. It was the neatest experience! While driving, I received strong feelings to turn right here or a left there. After about seven or eight turns, we arrived. It was exactly how I had seen it! I began to look for the right building and felt as though we needed to park immediately. We parked, said a prayer, and left the car. The moment I turned around, I saw it. The building. We approached. Finding three floors we took a moment to pause and reflect on which was the correct one. I was told we needed to stay on the first. So we looked at the doors next. There were three. This decision took a little big longer, but eventually we knew which door we had been led to. We checked our watches to see that it was 8:55, the eleventh hour. We knocked. Immediately a woman came out from around the corner and walked up to the door! We engaged her and began to introduce ourselves. Her name is Sierra. We told her that we were there to help her learn how she can come closer to Jesus Christ. She told us that she is a very religious person, but at the moment does not attend a church. We learned that she has been looking for quite some time. We were able to give her a Restoration pamphlet, share our testimonies, and set up a return appointment. It was the neatest experience ever! I know that if we will simply tune into that Holy Spirit, it will guide us in all aspects of life. It truly will help us find what we are looking for. The following day we had a lesson with our recent convert, Josefina! She shared a missionary story she had had with us! Her neighbor is a very strong Catholic, but Josefina has been wanting to share the Book of Mormon with her for a little while. She actually had been praying for three days to know how to bring it up with her! Well on the third day, her neighbor came to her! Josie was able to share her testimony and even invite her to church! It turns out that her neighbor isn't even Catholic anymore! Plus, she accepted the invitation to come! It is the greatest feeling in the world listening to someone you helped bring into the church bring someone else in as well!! This week I have been trying to be more diligent with using the Lord's time effectively. President James has been cracking down on something called "my time". It doesn't exist! This is entirely the Lord's time. I have been doing my best to study Preach my Gospel or the scriptures throughout the lunch hour instead of napping or doing something else. It has really blessed me! Friday we were able to go out to Knightdale and give the Hermanas' investigator a blessing. He is three years old and has cancer. It was a very humbling experience and I was very honored to give it. Saturday was a busy day! I bought Elder Summers his first boberry biscuit from Bojangles, we were able to catch up with many of our investigators, we had a gay guy hit on us as he told us the door we were looking for was upstairs just so he could, quote on quote "watch us go up the stairs", and we found a very promising new investigator! His name is Ricardo. He has been taught many times, but moves and always loses contact with the missionaries. He was very excited to see us again! Probably the funniest part of the week was when Elder Niko started screaming in the middle of the night. He was screaming "Somebody help! Help me!! Can you see this?? Someone help!!" We all woke up in a fright and asked how we could help when he told us that the top bunk was falling on him! Yeah... it wasn't. But we had a good laugh about it later... Yesterday we had a delicious breakfast in a members home and went to church! Guess who I saw when I was there? That's right, the formerly known Elder Chandler! TC! That was fun to talk to him and catch up. It was a great day at church. This has been a wonderful week! The Lord is truly blessing us with miracles. And guess what?? As of this past Saturday, I only have 13 months left!! Oh how fast the time is flying... I am truly loving and adoring this mission. Thank you all for your support and love. It is much acknowledged and appreciated. Have a miraculous week!!!

Letting the Spirit be my GPS,
Elder Shearer

08/08/16 - Raleigh, North Carolina

I am so grateful for the opportunities we have been heaven-sent to grow! This week has been full of a little bit more trials than the past few weeks, but don't you fear! Elder Shearer is staying strong, positive, and persistent! The first struggle came last Monday when we played some sports with a bunch of other missionaries. While playing a friendly game of soccer, I got kicked in the face! My glasses cut my nose open and I started bleeding! But hey, at least the glasses were intact. The next day was actually a really great one. We had zone council again! It is a meeting wherein the district leaders and zone leaders discuss the needs of the missionaries of the zone. It is very real and so intimate. Easily my favorite meeting. We brought up many good ideas and suggestions to help the missionaries and it got me really excited! Wednesday was another beautiful day. We had district meeting and I instructed on How to Begin Teaching. For those of you that don't know, How to Begin Teaching is a section in Preach my Gospel that us missionaries use to establish expectations with our investigators, members, and everyone we meet! Well this week while studying for district meeting, I came across a great eye-opener. While reading this section, I saw the words "our message" many times. I came to realize that these expectations are not just for our investigators to have. They are also essential for us as the missionaries to have. By changing the wording to read "your message" it speaks to us missionaries directly and teaches us many things. For instance, one point says "Our message cannot be learned all at once. Understanding will come over time through prayer, study, experience, and keeping God’s commandments." This helps the investigator understand the importance of patience and hard work. Now upon changing the wording we come to read it as follows. "Your message cannot be learned all at once. Understanding will come over time through prayer, study, experience, and keeping God’s commandments." This now helps us missionaries realize that we also need the patience and hard work to come to understand the message we share. As I shared this in district meeting, the Spirit was very powerful. Many of us were in tears as we put into perspective not only our expectations for our investigators, but also the expectations we should have for ourselves. And in turn, the Lord's expectations for us. I went on an exchange with an Elder in my district following the meeting and we had a great night biking. An hour to dinner and then an hour back! We also did some tracting in the nighttime and talked to some great people. I ordered some new tags from the mission office and they came this week! They say "Elder Cortador" which is the Spanish translation of my name. Super fun! Elder Summers had his birthday on Thursday and to celebrate, I took him out to lunch. He opened all of his presents including a name tag from me that says "Elder Veranos" and seemed to enjoy the day very much. We also had a member shoot of some fireworks to help us celebrate! I got a package the following day from my Grandma D! It got stuck in the mail for almost a month... I can't believe it! It was amazing. We had a lesson with the husband of our recent convert that just got baptized and he was completely different this time! His whole countenance has changed and he is definitely feeling the Spirit of the message now. We hope to baptize him soon. After the lesson with him, we came outside to find that our bike lights had been stolen! We rode home in the pitch black and almost crashed like 10 times haha! It was a good laughing experience... We biked a lot in the rain this week and biked some pretty heavy days miles-wise. We have also had many appointments fall through. On this past Saturday alone, we had all 7 of our appointments reject us. One of them even told us that she would much appreciate us never coming back haha! I loved it. After every single door that was slammed in our face, we just laughed it off and with a face of determination, set off to continue working in the work of the Lord. And as we kept smiling and pushing on, the Lord granted us a great tender mercy. While tracting, a woman by the name of Tracy pulled her car up next to us and shared her story. She let us know that her son was baptized in the church many years ago, but was now a less active. She too would have been baptized had it not been for a few things in her life at the time. She told us they had been searching for a way to get in contact with the church for quite some time, but didn't know where to look. She had prayed that morning that the Lord would send someone to her and later saw us walking. Not having much time, she gave us her number and told us to give her a call as soon as possible. It was incredible to see that the Lord really does have a plan for us, even when it isn't the one we initially expect! And one of my favorite experiences of the week happened as we were tracting one rainy night. After trying a few doors without any success, I was gentled reminded by the Holy Ghost to try a door I had tried many weeks before. I believe at this point I had tried this specific door at least 5 other times due to other strong promptings. Well this time, it opened! From the second the door opened, the whole mood changed. We immediately connected spirit to spirit and we began talking very openly with one another. She let us know that she is very frustrated and confused with religion and just wants the truth. I was without speech as Elder Summers and I left that contact. We just walked in silence for the longest time. And to top off the week, church was incredible! Josefina, Rony, and their family came and as they walked in the doors, Josefina said "Oh! My church! This is my church!" Rony paid his tithing too on a little bit of money he had made cleaning cars! They are so very strong. A member bore her testimony about the power of Priesthood blessings and told a story about when I gave her a blessing not too long ago. She said that the blessing was an answer to a prayer and through tears explained that it helped her come to truly know of the love of God for her. It brought me to tears as well. This week was a remarkable one. I am trying to look up, look out, and look now. Look up and be positive. Look out and put the needs of others before my own. Look now and enjoy what I have in front of me while I have it. I apologize for such long emails, but there are just too many stories I have to share each week! I hope they are bringing the spirit of missionary work into each of your daily lives. For I KNOW of the blessings that come when we do this, the work of the Lord.

Still squeezing the rain out of my shoes,
Elder Shearer

08/01/16 - Raleigh, North Carolina

Wow! Miracles upon miracles this week!! The first of which being that last preparation day, we had a tennis tournament as a district. The assistants came and joined us as well, and I was undefeated! Definitely some divine intervention in that regard. We also had a great covenanting story. For those of you who aren't familiar with the missionary definition of covenanting, it is when we prayerfully listen to the will of the Lord and then covenant to do our part. For instance, we could feel that the Lord wants us to find 3 new investigators so we covenant through a prayer that we are going to accomplish His will. It is a great opportunity to strengthen our individual relationships with Him and to build our faith! Well on Tuesday, Elder Summers and I had about 10 minutes before dinner was to start. I decided we needed to use the Lord's time effectively and go tracting. We felt that the Lord wanted us to find one new investigator, so we covenanted with Him. Literally the moment we got out of the car, we find a woman named Leticia! She is very confused why there are so many different churches. We were able to share testimonies and bear witness of the reality of a true church as we answered a few of her questions. A great contact! We then did a little exchange with our zone leaders for the night so that they could give baptismal interviews to our 3 investigators. We had a great time! I got to drive a truck for the first time in my life! It is a Chevy Silverado 2015 and it is HUGE! A little intimidating at first, but by the end of the night I had it down nicely. All of our investigators passed with flying colors! They have such strong testimonies. We had district meeting on Wednesday and another miracle happened! I was instructing on how to give good active member lessons and I was really worried that no one would pay any attention, and that they would all be very bored. But after much prayer, it was one of the most lively district meetings ever! I have the best missionaries in the NCRM (North Carolina Raleigh Mission) in my district. Later that night we had a wedding here at the church for our investigator, Luis! He has been wanting to get baptized for a long time, but was not married yet. So they got married on Wednesday by our Bishop and he was baptized on Saturday! A senior companionship went home this week and they will be missed! They names are the Scotts. They were loved by so many missionaries! As a four-man we made a special breakfast for them to say goodbye and it was really fun. Afterwards, Elder Summers and I had interviews with President and Sister James, and they both went very well. President told me that I lift and inspire him. He shared a few of my insights with my companion in his interview and let me know that he is worried we are doing too good together! He said that Elder Summers isn't supposed to be this happy having been out only 2 weeks! Sister James told me in my interview that the missionaries in my district look up to me as their example. That I am their light, joy, and motivation. She said those things are what the gospel is all about and that I am a great example of them to the missionaries here in this mission. The truth of the matter is that I only am who I am thanks to the examples of my wonderful parents, sister, and Savior Jesus Christ! We were not able to teach as much as we would have liked to this week due to the baptism we had to plan for, but of the lessons we did have, they were very powerful! The Lord has His hand in this work and is blessing us greatly. One of our investigators asked me if my father is Hispanic and told me that I speak fluent Spanish, but I let him know they he is not.... so... yeah. We gave Josefina and her son Rony a church tour this week to introduce it all to them a little more and they loved it! We told them all about what was going to happen for their baptism and they were very excited. Saturday finally came around and Elder Summers and I finished the program, set everything up, and filled the font just in time! It was a beautiful night. Being able to see 3 of our investigators in white was a touching sight. Elder Summers and I sang "Senor, Te Necesito" (I Need Thee Every Hour), and the Spirit was there very strong. We had the baptisms immediately after and I had the sacred privilege of baptizing Josefina and Rony. There was such a powerful feeling there! Being able to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord and perform an ordinance was a special treasure I will never forget! After I baptized Josefina, she came out of the water and gave me the biggest hug ever. It was so sweet! She went up the stairs to the dressing room and as the door closed, I heard her begin to weep! She let us know after the baptism that she hadn't slept in 2 days! It also turns out that she has been taught for well over 3 years!! And somehow we were blessed enough to be able to reap the harvest and bring her and her son to the waters of baptism. It was a beautiful service! The following morning Elder Summers confirmed them members of the church and gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost. He did super well, especially considering it was in Spanish! They are very happy and we hope the rest of their family will feel of their testimonies and be baptized too! After the baptism the assistants came up to us and jokingly told us that they are going to split us up. They said that we are doing too good together! They said they are just going to make a clone of me and spread me all around the mission. What a disaster that would be! It was truly a great week. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of helping someone take the step to be baptized. Thanks for tuning in and for all of the support you each give to me. I am praying for y'all and love you greatly. Have a blessed week!

On fire and ready for some more!
Elder Shearer